Hackers

Filipino hackers defaced the Philippines’ government telecommunications website yesterday, accusing Philippine President Benigno Aquino III of being “pro-Malaysian” amid the Sabah armed conflict with Sulu militants, Philippine broadcaster ABS-CBN News reported.

Anonymous Philippines previously hacked the Philippine president’s official website last Tuesday, with the hacker group lambasting Aquino for doing nothing to stop the alleged human rights violations against Filipinos in Sabah.

New Chinese Premier Li Keqiang dismissed hacking accusations against China as “groundless” on Sunday and said his government was committed to strong ties with Washington.

Referring to allegations that China’s military was behind massive hacking attacks on U.S. entities, Li reiterated Beijing’s statements that China is a major target of global hackers and opposes all such criminal activity.

A Reuters.com editor maintained his innocence after being suspended with pay on Friday following a US federal indictment on charges he aided members of the Anonymous hacking collective.

Matthew Keys, 26, a deputy social media editor, was indicted on Thursday by a federal grand jury in Sacramento, California, on three criminal counts. The alleged events occurred before he joined Reuters, the indictment indicated.

EA and Maxis' claim that it would take "significant engineering work" to make a workable offline version of SimCity took another hit today. Hackers have released modding tools that disable the game's periodic server checks without breaking the simulation. The tools also unlock other features not in the final game.

The National Vulnerability Database's (NVD) public-facing website has been taken down following the discovery of malware on two of its servers.

The malware was discovered on 8 March. According to a spokesperson for the NVD, the attack was caused by a software vulnerability within the groups servers. The discovery forced the NVD and other National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) websites to be taken down for repairs.

In a speech on Monday at the Asia Society in New York, National Security Adviser Tom Donilon addressed Chinese cyber intrusions into U.S. government and business network infrastructures. In moving cybersecurity "to the forefront of our agenda," Mr. Donilon noted that he wasn't referring to "ordinary cybercrime or hacking." He called on Beijing to recognize the importance of cyber issues, take "serious steps" to investigate Chinese cyber intrusions, and engage in a "constructive dialogue" to define "acceptable norms of behavior in cyberspace."

China has expressed a willingness to cooperate with the United States and others to combat hacking, after a top US official warned the international community was losing patience with Beijing.

Foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying, while reiterating China's position that it is a victim of attacks in cyberspace, said Beijing was in favour of global cooperation on the issue.

Authorities and celebrities are grappling with how to respond to a website that posted what appears to be private financial information about top government officials and stars such as Jay-Z and Mel Gibson.

More details have been revealed about the massive cyberattack that hit several tech companies last month. Not only were Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, and Twitter hit -- but other industries' computer systems were also hacked, including prominent car manufacturers, U.S. government agencies, and a candy company.

According to The Security Ledger, people familiar with the matter said that hackers infiltrated computer networks by using at least three third-party "watering hole" Web sites, which made it possible for hackers to put malware on those companies' computers.

China issued a new call on Saturday for international "rules and cooperation" on internet espionage issues, while insisting that allegations of Chinese government involvement in recent hacking attacks were falsified as part of an international smear campaign.

The remarks, by Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, were China's highest level response yet to intensifying accusations that the Chinese military may be engaging in cyber espionage.